I’m back from the Haven blogging conference and had an amazing time, like last year. I learned so much more about blogging and social media, and how to grow Dagmar’s Home.
I flew from Westchester directly to Atlanta last Thursday.
After I check into the Hyatt, I met my roommate — sweet Jennifer Dawn who writes The Life of Jennifer Dawn.
We had found each other through the Haven Mavens Facebook group, where I posted that I was looking for a roommate. Haven is more fun with a roommate.
I freshened up, and I went to the reception.
I chatted with a few bloggers while we were in line waiting to get drinks…
…and then ran into Rhoda and the rest of the Haven team, and Jon Acuff.
They asked me to take a picture of them. Of course! Here it is on Rhoda’s Instagram.
What I Learned at the Haven Blogging Conference 2015
The next morning, we all had to get up early. I grabbed a coffee to catch Jon Acuff’s keynote speech. He is hilarious, such a great speaker, and he inspired us all to pursue our passion because he’s also a blogger.
After the speech, I checked out some of the vendors.
This was the first session I decided to attend, about newsletters. After moving to Feedblitz, also using Mail Chimp for newsletters in now on my to-do list. Kristen had a ton of great tips for all of us.
I looked into this session briefly, about tips to build better.
This session about increasing your ad revenue was amazing! It was presented by Kyle Ivins from The Blogger Network and Camille Beckstrand, the oldest sister and co-founder of the blog SixSistersStuff.com.
I had just signed up with The Blogger Network before Haven and can’t wait to have them take over and handle all of my ads.
I later ran into Kyle and we started talking, and wouldn’t you believe it: he lived in Bremen, in my hometown, for two years! We had lunch together and talked about Beck’s beer, the Schnoor, and all the good German food we miss.
The next session was about branding, and KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms was one of the speakers! We have chatted before on the phone, and meeting her in person was one of the highlights of Haven for me.
She is warm and funny and so giddy and infection, and a great speaker. I get inspired by her blog and her emails all the time.
This was another session full of great information by all of these three blogging pros.
After being in sessions all day, I enjoyed this drink and food at the Smile & Sparkle Soiree, before I headed to dinner with a small group of bloggers.
The next day, my first session was about How to Make Facebook Work For You. I’m pretty big on Twitter and Pinterest, but Facebook isn’t my friend. I have the hardest time to grow my following there.
Amy from The Idea Room, another beautiful blog I have been following for years, taught us the secret: she posts 15+ times a day to Facebook! She preschedules the posts so they run automatically. I’m not sure I’ll find the time to do that — we’ll see.
The next session I went to was about building and carpentry with Ana White and Home Depot. It was too technical for me — I don’t see myself building a bed or table from scratch any time soon, drawing plans…. Don is the carpentry pro in our house; I’d rather work on my blogging skills.
It was nice to see several babies attending Haven — made me miss Landon.
This quote came from a session about site design and coding by Lesley Clavijo. She’s a sweetheart and I remember meeting her and her mom last year at Haven.
The last session I attended was about Instagram tips and tricks, and these two ladies — Liz Marie Galvan and Jennifer Robison — had amazing tips.
I had to miss the closing session and the fun party afterward to catch my plane, but I left with so much information and inspiration that I didn’t mind.
Thank you, Haven team, for an even better Haven than last year, if that is possible!
The hotel was great, the food fresh and yummy, the sessions outstanding, and I met so many other amazing bloggers that make this journey such a pleasure.
Being a professional blogger is intense, there is so much to know and these sessions just scratched the surface — but conferences like this make our job easier. And the camaraderie is wonderful and a much-needed break from a mostly solitary profession.
Did you attend the Haven blogging conference this year?
